On January 20th 1977 the new President Carter moved swiftly to try and re-establish the Middle East Peace Treaty.  This process had stalled during the 1976 presidential campaign and subsequently  the position had deteriorated.  Carter had already visited many Heads of State that would be required to support the peace process and be instrumental in reaching an agreement.  President Sadat of Egypt was keen on finding a solution to this problem, despite the fact that more extremist groups in the Arab world threatened terrorist reprisals against Egypt.  Sadat spoke to the Israeli assembly at the Knesset and sought implementation of resolutions 242 and 338.  This resulted in establishing a further summit meeting in Cairo and ultimately led to the Camp David Accords.

The secret talks at Camp David commenced on  September 5th 1978 and lasted thirteen days in intense gruelling debates.  The determination of President Carter and insistence that nobody left until an agreement was reached, attributed largely to the success of this meeting. During the course of the negotiations both Egypt and Israeli delegations wanted to walk away.  President carter proved to be a highly influential negotiator and arbitrator in repeatedly getting each party back to the discussion table.  Carter had to introduce what has become known as shuttle diplomacy, talking to each party 1:1 and sharing views with the other party, owing to the fact that Begin and Sadat were not on speaking terms.  The impasse was caused by the Israeli stance on the position of the occupied West Bank and withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai peninsula.  Whereas Sadat wanted all settlements to be removed from the Sinai Peninsula.

President Carter took both parties to the Gettysburg National Military Park showing them the implications of the American Civil War as a comparison to their own situation.

Goals and Planning of the meeting

There were two distinct sides of the Camp David agreement, resulting from the planned negotiations:

1. A comprehensive framework for peace in the Middle East and
2. A framework for the conclusion of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel

The goals of the meeting would be based upon the following:

• An agreed basis for a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Israel and its neighbours is United Nations Security Council Resolution 242;
• The peoples of the Middle East have endured 4 wars lasting some 30 years. They need to find a solution to a lasting peace so that they can exist in an atmosphere of cooperation and coexistence in order to bring prosperity to the nations of the Middle East;
• The reciprocal visits to each others countries, as carried out by the Egyptian President and the Israeli Prime Minister, were warmly greeted by the peoples of both nations. An opportunity that must not be lost to protect future generations of both nations, sparing them the terrible consequences of war
• To achieve a relationship of peace under Article 2 of the United Nations
• Progress of movement towards a goal of mutual respect for each countries sovereign rights and the right to live in peace within their territorial boundaries. Free from acts of aggression by external forces or others that seek to destabilize the peace process.
• Enhanced security relationships that will benefit both parties that may include demilitarized zones, limited armaments areas, early warning stations, the presence of international forces, liaison, agreed measures for monitoring and other arrangements that they agree are useful  (Israel)